• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

GVMERS - The Tragedy of Fallout 76

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Fallout 4 hit stores in the fall of 2015, five years after the spinoff Fallout: New Vegas launched to widespread acclaim. In the years between the two releases, the video game landscape, specifically western role-playing titles, underwent a noticeable shift. The likes of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt raised the bar in many respects, especially with regards to content quality, storytelling, and presentation. While Fallout 4 couldn’t quite rise to the occasion, it still boasted the core tenets of the franchise’s modern adventures, offering a deep role-playing experience replete with choices, compelling characters, and a swath of customization options. To the dismay of fans, these pillars took a backseat in Bethesda Game Studios’ 2018 spinoff, Fallout 76.

An online-only installment in a traditionally single-player series, Fallout 76 failed to garner the excitement afforded to its predecessors. However, despite the skepticism in the months leading up to release, Fallout faithful gave the new endeavor a chance. Few redeeming qualities accompanied the game’s arrival, though.

In addition to a launch beset by game-affecting glitches and a dearth of engaging content, myriad other controversies cast dark clouds over what should’ve been a strong outing for Bethesda in late 2018. The controversy included poor quality collector items, overpriced rum, and a security breach, all of which contributed to a comedy of errors that many people will not soon forget.

Bethesda slowly corrected course, deploying free updates that optimized performance and introduced meaningful content in the form of dedicated story quests and NPCs. But regardless of the steps taken, Fallout 76’s path to redemption proved long and arduous, as the lingering effects of countless missteps marred this particular venture through the wasteland.

This is the tragedy of Fallout 76.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
76 is decent now it on the level of ESO now
ESO is better still.

Actually has great storylines. Not to mention it isn’t mired by past blunders.

76 can reach No Man’s Sky level if they put more effort in it. NMS was truly transformational but you can’t say the title didn’t still have the previous stigma it had.
 

Great Hair

Banned
76 is decent now it on the level of ESO now
Meme Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
I've spent more time with Fallout 76 than most people I'd wager and I'll say I had a good time with it, it's definitely a game that needs to be played with a buddy and if that buddy is a huge Fallout fan like mine's was, even better. Fallout 76 legitimately has some great stories in it, problem is, you have to READ the shit, which isn't conducive to an online experience. I had fun with it when it first launched, put in down for quite a while then played all of the new content where settlers and shit start coming back to the wasteland, which was just..ok.

It's not a great Fallout game, but it does have some interesting Fallout stories in it. The map itself is quite awesome and very fun to play around in. I wouldn't really suggest it for someone looking for a meaningful Fallout experience and it's definitely lacking as a single-player game, but it's a good enough time with a buddy and a few drinks.

When we say we want co-op Fallout/Elder Scrolls, we mean the single-player game with a hired goon that can change his gear, it doesn't need to be more complicated than that and Bethesda cobbled together whatever Frankenstein monster they gave us that was Fallout 76. I would love for them to take that same 76 map and give us an actual Fallout game but take out all the pointless MP stuff and just give us a simple co-op game.
 
Last edited:

Great Hair

Banned
Imaging having to pay $180 for gamepass and another $100 for FO76 ...; The game had like 1,001 bugs according to this brave gentleman.

btw: does anyone know why Joseph Anderson ain´t uploading no more?!
 

CitizenZ

Banned
Fallout 76 is pretty trash but is one of my most played games ever(200hrs and Ive played them all) for 3 reasons:

1. Best Fallout world to explore
2. Base building
3. Community
 

CitizenZ

Banned
I've spent more time with Fallout 76 than most people I'd wager and I'll say I had a good time with it, it's definitely a game that needs to be played with a buddy and if that buddy is a huge Fallout fan like mine's was, even better. Fallout 76 legitimately has some great stories in it, problem is, you have to READ the shit, which isn't conducive to an online experience. I had fun with it when it first launched, put in down for quite a while then played all of the new content where settlers and shit start coming back to the wasteland, which was just..ok.

It's not a great Fallout game, but it does have some interesting Fallout stories in it. The map itself is quite awesome and very fun to play around in. I wouldn't really suggest it for someone looking for a meaningful Fallout experience and it's definitely lacking as a single-player game, but it's a good enough time with a buddy and a few drinks.

When we say we want co-op Fallout/Elder Scrolls, we mean the single-player game with a hired goon that can change his gear, it doesn't need to be more complicated than that and Bethesda cobbled together whatever Frankenstein monster they gave us that was Fallout 76. I would love for them to take that same 76 map and give us an actual Fallout game but take out all the pointless MP stuff and just give us a simple co-op game.

Totally disagree. I think its fine co op, but you can really get lost just exploring solo. And its pretty good challenge, fck the cards. Whoever thought that was a good idea should be fired.
To clarify I stopped using points after level 60 because the game started to become a cake walk, which is one of the major issues, no level cap. But that's the target audience no one wants challenge, they show up for world boss and its over in 30 seconds.
 
Last edited:

Meicyn

Gold Member
Logged a lot of hours, everyone screeched about the no human NPCs thing but the game having none of those was fantastic for the game’s atmosphere. Game played like shit at launch and still has problems now, but it was easily Bethesda’s best map work to date. Some of the voice work in the audio logs is incredible. Inon Zur’s soundtrack is masterclass, his best work IMO.

Shame that so much great work is overshadowed by the shitty launch and endless glitches.
 

Trimesh

Banned
Totally disagree. I think its fine co op, but you can really get lost just exploring solo. And its pretty good challenge, fck the cards. Whoever thought that was a good idea should be fired.

I suspect the original plan was to have those cards purchasable using real money. Probably the supply drops too. But then there was a huge backlash against pay to win mechanics in games and they decided not to do that. Instead they implemented a bunch of stuff (weapon durability, food going bad) that just acts as an irritation to the player and then "conveniently" have stuff you can buy in the Atomic Shop to mitigate the hassle caused by their own design decisions.
 

CitizenZ

Banned
I suspect the original plan was to have those cards purchasable using real money. Probably the supply drops too. But then there was a huge backlash against pay to win mechanics in games and they decided not to do that. Instead they implemented a bunch of stuff (weapon durability, food going bad) that just acts as an irritation to the player and then "conveniently" have stuff you can buy in the Atomic Shop to mitigate the hassle caused by their own design decisions.

LOL, the survival aspect is gone too. It might as well be a phone game at this time and anyone thinking it will be different going forward, its not. Thats Bethesda.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
I'd love to see the game go cross-platform. I'd probably jump on and play with my Pops just as a decent time-waster but I don't really want to play on the Xbox and he only has an Xbox.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
The tragedy of Bethesda obtaining the Fallout IP.
Say what you will, but they saved that friggin' franchise after it languished in limbo forever. FO3 was pretty good and not a bad first attempt at making it an open-world game in Bethesda's flavor, but New Vegas(modded/fixed on PC) is fantastic and one of the best WRPG's around. So many possible quest outcomes, it's crazy what's possible in that game. FO4 was ok, definitely needed mods to make it what it should have been, but it was serviceable enough.

It'll be interesting to see where the franchise goes next. Hopefully Microsoft will give it back to Obsidian and actually let them make the game in a decent time-frame and with a proper budget.
 

bender

What time is it?
Say what you will, but they saved that friggin' franchise after it languished in limbo forever. FO3 was pretty good and not a bad first attempt at making it an open-world game in Bethesda's flavor, but New Vegas(modded/fixed on PC) is fantastic and one of the best WRPG's around. So many possible quest outcomes, it's crazy what's possible in that game. FO4 was ok, definitely needed mods to make it what it should have been, but it was serviceable enough.

It'll be interesting to see where the franchise goes next. Hopefully Microsoft will give it back to Obsidian and actually let them make the game in a decent time-frame and with a proper budget.

Fallout 3 was forgettable. Fallout 4 was bad. New Vegas was outsourced. Bethesda just doesn't have the writing chops to have story or narrative carry their games. Their world creations have also fallen way off since Morrowind and their game play systems, while never great, really feel archaic now that they aren't the only major studio doing open world RPGs.
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
Fallout 3 was forgettable. Fallout 4 was bad. New Vegas was outsourced. Bethesda just doesn't have the writing chops to have story or narrative carry their games. Their world creations have also fallen way off since Morrowind and their game play systems, while never great, really feel archaic now that they aren't the only major studio doing open world RPGs.
I dunno man, I thought Fallout 76 did a fantastic job of dealing with the theme of the corporate exploiting class (raiders) versus the working class (the settlers) in the latest expansion. One of the dialogue options with an NPC involves asking him why the raiders don’t just outright conquer the settlers’ newly founded home when they could do so easily, and the answer was that he isn’t cut out to be a farmer.

Prior to the expansion, the core game showcased the frustrations of the working class in a world where automation took hold, with West Virginia being a perfect backdrop since there is a long history of blue collar miners being exploited by rich assholes and always being left to rot when they’re no longer needed, and treated like shit when they are. It was interesting reading and hearing the transition of rich predatory folks go from ruthless behavior in corporate boardrooms to becoming leaders of raiding parties in a post-apocalyptic world.

I know it’s so much fun to shit on Bethesda, but saying they don’t have the writing chops is nonsense. There’s some great story content in 76.
 

bender

What time is it?
I know it’s so much fun to shit on Bethesda, but saying they don’t have the writing chops is nonsense. There’s some great story content in 76.

Haven't really played 76 outside of the beta so I'll take your word for it, but everything I've played of Bethesda reinforces my feelings. You can say nonsense, I'll stick with the sentiment being dead on. It's never been their strong suit.
 
Fallout 76 fucking slaps, I'll write up a post about it so ya'll can shit on it if ya want but I'm not even going to give this turd a click. Most people that shit on it probably haven't even played it, they just watch Angry Joe and friends and their opinion is made for them.

Hella glad to have experienced the beginning of the game through now, and our boy Microsoft can hopefully pump some money into it to expand the game even further.

In Todd We Trust
 

Kev Kev

Member
I disagree that fallout 4 didn’t rise to the occasion. It’s one of my fav games ever, it just got released with a bunch of bugs and shit, apparently. I didn’t play the game until months after it released and it had already been fixed, but by then the damage was done.

Fallout 76 blew chunks on release, but now people say it’s been fixed and it’s great so 🤷‍♂️ I’ll have to give it another try one day.
 

Beardsalt

Member
My opinio but the game started out trash and buggy as hell even on some of the best rigs. It’s now slightly less trash and it still crashes for me from time to time when my buddy begs me to play it with him. I usually go off to the highest places and kill stuff to watch the hilarious rag-doll physics!
 

kuncol02

Banned
I dunno man, I thought Fallout 76 did a fantastic job of dealing with the theme of the corporate exploiting class (raiders) versus the working class (the settlers) in the latest expansion. One of the dialogue options with an NPC involves asking him why the raiders don’t just outright conquer the settlers’ newly founded home when they could do so easily, and the answer was that he isn’t cut out to be a farmer.

Prior to the expansion, the core game showcased the frustrations of the working class in a world where automation took hold, with West Virginia being a perfect backdrop since there is a long history of blue collar miners being exploited by rich assholes and always being left to rot when they’re no longer needed, and treated like shit when they are. It was interesting reading and hearing the transition of rich predatory folks go from ruthless behavior in corporate boardrooms to becoming leaders of raiding parties in a post-apocalyptic world.

I know it’s so much fun to shit on Bethesda, but saying they don’t have the writing chops is nonsense. There’s some great story content in 76.
They have great world building, but for some reason their dialogues and quest design is dragging them down. Fallout 4 with Wasteland 3 writers would be one of best games of previous generation. That's why it's extra painful. They could do better if they would want. To be fair it's still infinitely better dialogue system than in Morrowind, but still...

edit: I'm trying to say that we desperately need New Vegas 2
 
Last edited:
I was always intending to try ESO at some point.

Not anymore.
last I heard you can actually play it single player, specially now with AI companions just like in Skyrim - or play along others in small, manageable parties instead of idiot casual chaos as in most MMO. It's got full regions of Tamriel, lots of plots and quests.

I didn't actually play it, but don't understand how it can be so overlooked when offering so much. If I ever played a MMO, this would be it.
 

DiscoDave

Member
I really like fallout now it was shit at the start and there are still loads of bugs but its really good now, with friends anyway, and really enjoy the public events.
 

BigBooper

Member
Can't understand how someone could play this on Gamepass and find out how terrible it feels to play and continue playing it. I tried it three times for maybe thirty minutes a piece and quit for the awfulness.

Different story I know, if you'd bought it.
 

nowhat

Member
In the video the guy says "Ultimate Online".

I know the Ultima franchise is (sadly, perhaps) very much dead by now, but come on.
 

DiscoDave

Member
Can't understand how someone could play this on Gamepass and find out how terrible it feels to play and continue playing it. I tried it three times for maybe thirty minutes a piece and quit for the awfulness.

Different story I know, if you'd bought it.
I play on playstation at the moment and have tried it on gamepas aswell. The 60fps for the series x makes it feel alot better to play but I'm kinda stuck to the ps5 due to friends being on playstation. Its bugged to fuck though still and I expect atleast 2 crashes a day.
 

kanjobazooie

Mouse Ball Fetishist
Can't understand how someone could play this on Gamepass and find out how terrible it feels to play and continue playing it. I tried it three times for maybe thirty minutes a piece and quit for the awfulness.
I love FO76 and have played it for 40 hours so far, but I have to agree that it does not feel great to play. I learned to live with the slight combat lag and other gameplay flaws.
 
Top Bottom